Thursday, February 14, 2008

It's harder to make ends meet...everything has gone up in price...gasoline, heating, water, medicine, food...everything but my wages.

Want to know the 'State of the State'? ...it's not good at all! Governor Tim Pawlenty maybe hasn't noticed because he's been too busy campaigning for McCain, but the rest of us know that things aren't improving. For some of us 'Rome is burning' and Tim is fiddling.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Because it's Tuesday, and I'm cold (so cold I could shatter at any moment! Touch me and I'll break apart into little squares of human ice cubes that spill upon the frozen earth. I suppose they would bounce...a little...then the cubes of myself turn to crushed ice..geez I'm losing it),

and the damm car broke down (sigh again...I swear it senses when I can least afford a breakdown and does it on purpose...it's like the g*d of auto is vengeful and has it in for me personally. Why else does it wait until I'm broke, exhaused mentally and emotionally and it's the coldest day of the year and then...it breaks down? why? Did I mention that it's already cost more than I make in two months to repair? What did I ever do to deserve this?),

and the cat is still sick (in fact the cat is probably more depressed than me...given it has to stay inside with a stupid collar on so it won't reopen a sore on it's head! Right before leaving for work this morning the cat was looking for a way to end it all including baiting the dogs...),

and work sucks (does anyone ever have a job that doesn't?),

and I'm a tad depressed (the usual end of winter, run of the mill, can't take much more of this cold depression)...

but mostly because Johnny Cash is a legend and captures how I'm feeling...

Johnny had been playing in prisons for more than 10 years when he recorded his legendary live prison records in San Quentin and Folsom in the late 1960s. “I really was interested in some kind of prison reform,” he said in a 1994 interview, “but I don’t think that’s the answer. The answer is out on the street. Jobs. Opportunities. Racial prejudice is another thing that’s wrong, and a reason for the crime and the drugs, too."

It's still the answer, but seems like nobody is asking the question....

I hurt myself todayTo see if I still feelI focus on the painthe only thing that's realThe needle tears a holethe old familiar stingtry to kill it all awaybut I remember everything

What have I become?My sweetest friendEveryone I knowgoes away in the endYou could have it allMy empire of dirtI will let you downI will make you hurt

I wear this crown of shitOn my liar's chairFull of broken thoughtsI cannot repairBeneath the stains of timethe feelings disappearsYou are someone elseI am still right here

What have I become?my sweetest friendEveryone I knowgoes away in the endYou could have it allmy empire of dirtI will let you downI will make you hurt

If I could start againa million miles awayI would keep myselfI would find a way...

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

By now you've probably have made up your mind who you support and what issues you want addressed and changed. If the polls are to be believed most American's want to see an end to the last eight years that have underminded our civil liberities, taken away our economic well being, and allowed corporations more power than people. But that change will only happen if you GET INVOLVED. That process starts tonight at your local precinct caucus.

Who you support isn't as important as getting involved. What happened over the last several years has happened because most people haven't be involved. They feel powerless and we divorced from their government. That can all change tonight. No matter who or what you support, please attend tonight's caucuses. To find a precinct caucus location please use the following: Log onto: WWW.DFLCAUCUSES.ORG OR WWW.SOS.STATE.MN.USOR CALL THE DFL AT: 651.293.1200

Change starts with you. One person, and then one more, and then another, and then more....let's be the change we want to see. GO TO CAUCUS.

Monday, February 04, 2008

In a few hours, at 4:15 am to be exact, I'm headed out in the cold to yet another airport, this time to Chattanooga and then Knoxville, Tennessee to rally and speak for Hillary Clinton.

I'd go anywhere, any time, to shout from the rooftops that Hillary Clinton is the right choice for women, for our families, for our communities and for our future.

Here is why I care so much:Hillary Clinton is a national leader of the highest order, with the strength and determination and experience to deliver real change to our country. She has been a leader on women's rights and civil rights for over 30 years.

It is of special importance to me that Hillary is an unparalleled champion for women's reproductive rights, justice and health. In fact, I've just signed a letter from many leaders: Martha Burk, Gloria Feldt, Cecelia Fire Thunder, Lulu Flores, Ellen Malcolm, Irene Natividad, Ellie Smeal, Gloria Steinem, and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones on why Hillary is the best choice for those of us who care so deeply about these issues.

Hillary has been through fire and emerged stronger with each challenge. She can take anything the Republicans can dish out, and give it back double. The Democrats need her, the country needs her, and she needs your vote on Tuesday.

Make no mistake, Hillary Clinton is the strongest candidate to win in November, and to set our country right. She beat the Republicans in two landslide elections, despite predictions that she couldn't win in upstate and rural New York. And it will take someone with her economic and national security strengths to beat John McCain. We know she can deliver on Day One -- from getting our troops out of Iraq, to fixing the shattered economy and the mortgage crisis, to winning health care that covers every single person in this country.

Please vote on Tuesday for Hillary Clinton, and if you haven't done it already, please email your friends and contacts in the Super Tuesday states and tell them that: from her earliest days advising battered women, helping abused children, and providing free legal services to the poor, to her time in the White House advocating for universal healthcare, championing the S-CHIP (State Child Health Insurance) program, and helping to pass the Violence Against Women Act, to her service as a U.S. Senator, standing strong for reproductive rights and writing legislation to expand contraceptive access, helping win approval of emergency contraception, sponsoring equal pay legislation, and speaking out on the floor against the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, specifically saying that they would damage Roe v. Wade if confirmed. She was right, and I know we can count on her to nominate pro-women, pro-choice judges to the courts at every level.

She's always stood up for us, and now it's time for us to stand up for her with our vote and say "I'm Ready for Hillary."

I'm ready.

P.S. Robin Morgan's terrific new essay "Goodbye To All That (#2)" calls out the stereotypes, double standards and toxic viciousness against Hillary Clinton - Our President, Ourselves - and she concludes:

"Me, I'm voting for Hillary not because she's a woman-but because I am."

My daughters and I went to see Hillary Clinton yestarday afternoon. Hillary was nothing short of dynamic with amaxing energy. She spoke of all the issues that mean something to progressives like healthcare, affordable education, tax equality, job creations, civil rights...She got to the heart of the issues and provided specifics on what she and the Democratic leadership would do in the coming Presidental term.

But I've got to say the image she most left me with is even closer to my heart. The social equality of women being equal to men...Picture this...the first Madam President Hillary Clinton with the future Madam President Coco Kinnell...that's the picture I see in my mind. That my daughters have the same opportunities and advancement that men in America have been traditionally granted.

I also have to say to all supporters of any campaign... Yeah...I've heard the threats...she's a beltway insider...well you know what? I think of Bush and how he wasn't a Washington insider either, and how they claimed he was a uniter and would reached across the aisle. But all the promises went unfulfilled.

Yeah I hear the campaign cries of 'change'. But do you really think it's so? When candidates start talking about "Change for the better" I have to stifle the yawns and ask that you show me one who doesn't make the claim... blah, blah blah. Look at the experience and records...and then look into your daughter's eyes....there's a clear choice...and her name is Hillary.

Excitement, Experiences, Energy...Hillary Clinton was in Minneapolis Minnesota yestarday. She spoke to a packed house at Augsburg College then went on to a more private 'Super Bowl' gathering at Dixie's on Grand. Here's a video that captures some of the excitement of her campaign: http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1901002